Geriatric Psyc or Telemetry Stepdown internship

laurenicoleRN · Mar 30, 2011

This is kinda ironic, but I did tele step down right out of nursing school and now I work in a psych hospital. Each of them has their ups and downs. The step down unit was very fast-paced and I learned a lot. It turned out to be a pretty stressful job though for me. The psych job can get pretty hairy at times, but there is a lot of down time too. You definitely won't learn too many medical nursing skills in psych. We give shots & draw labs, but that's as invasive as it gets. I guess it all depends on what you want to do long term. If you decide to do psych you can still go back to the medical hospital and be trained, and vice versa. Good luck!

BrookeeLou_RN · Mar 31, 2011

I am sure there will be pros and cons to either specialty.. Go with your gut.. this gives best chance to be happy. Like other poster said you can transfer later if need be one day. Tele step will give you more skills but if you heart is in Geri-psych you will not need the skills.

My opinion is nurses should do what they feel they want and not be choosing area just to look better to anyone else. BE HAPPY!

NPvampire, MSN, RN, APRN · Mar 31, 2011

I'm all psych and have done it out of school, but I would advise the internship in the stepdown. The economy is so bad right now and there are so many cuts in mental health, IMO the stepdown would give you a better edge to job seeking...and usually psych will hire without med experience (although you will see plenty of geri in stepdown) but rarely the other way around. Actually, most detox/psych places demand med background. Just my two cents

cogath · Mar 31, 2011

My biggest areas of interest at the moment at OB, psych, addicition/substance abuse, and geriatrics. I did my clinical in med-surg and I enjoyed it but not sure it's something I would want to do for the rest of my life, and not really interested in tele, but I'm really looking for an internship that helps me feel competent when moving to my senior year.

Patchouli · Mar 31, 2011

we really can't answer this for you. you'll just have to decide which is a better fit for your long term goals. personally, i think if your heart is in psych, then go for it. period.

cogath · Mar 31, 2011

I spoke to my advsiors and some senior nursing students. I decided to choose Telemetry for my internship. I am going to save geriatric psych for my preceptorship in senior year because I know its going to be a meaningful experience for me. I am happy with my decision and look forward to seeing what nursing in telemetry is like :)

Patchouli · Mar 31, 2011

good luck to you!